Talousarviosuunnittelu ja supistusten kohdentaminen talousahdingossa

The article presents zeo-base budgeting as an ideal when local government is forced to cut it's budget. As a rational decision-making process it saves higher priority programs and redirects cuts to lower priority current programs in manner that gives the best efficiency and effectiveness. In practice, the many well-known facts makes the local government budgeting process an incremental political process where zero-base budgeting is very difficult to implement. Although this the conslusion of the article is not to abandon the ideas of cost-benefit analysis and zero-base budgeting but to unite the political process with the rational budget preparing. This requires more research of costs and effects of local services and better book-keeping oc costs and results. At the same time, politicians ought to openly announde their values in the process and take the political responsibility of budget decisions grounded on a better information basis.